Elsabet Belmany waits in the temple cella, impatient for the moment when her agents will seize the Sword Catcher. Janos and Bagomer pace upstairs, while Elsabet takes comfort in the thought that the Prince will be unable to protect Kel after this night.

Elsabet's confidence collapses when she feels a sudden, unfamiliar wrongness. Accustomed to being alone in her phoenix power, Elsabet senses another overwhelming light in the darkness and experiences fear for the first time. Nauseated and disoriented, Elsabet stumbles through the cella and knocks over the brazier.

The spilled coals ignite the wooden seats, setting the temple of Anibal on fire. Elsabet does not warn her guards; instead, Elsabet flees into the Maze, overwhelmed by its noise, smells, and the orange glow of flame in the sky.

Outside, Elsabet realizes that the greater blaze is not coming from the temple but from beyond the wall of the Sault. The fire is magical. Elsabet then sees a vision of Lin, the red-haired young woman from the Palace library, wearing the magal and carrying a blazing Source-Stone.

Lin's power wipes away Elsabet's vision, and Elsabet returns to the Maze as the Sault wall dissolves under unnatural fire. Stones crumble into dust, flames pour through the gap, and the temple is engulfed. Elsabet hears Janos and Bagomer screaming as the fire races after Elsabet like a predator.